Lost bodies : prostitution and masculinity in Chinese fiction / by Paola Zamperini.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zamperini, Paola.

Series:

Women and gender in China studies ; v. 3.

Women and gender in China studies, 1877-5772 ; v. 3

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Prostitution--China--History.

Prostitution.

Prostitutes--China--History.

Prostitutes.

Prostitutes in literature--History.

Prostitutes in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (250 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This important contribution to the study of early modern Chinese fiction and representation of gender relations focuses on literary representations of the prostitute produced in the Ming and Qing periods. Following her heavily symbolic body, the present work maps this fictional heroine's journey from innocence to sex-work and beyond. This crucial angle allows the author to paint a picture of gender identity, sexuality, and desire that is at once unitary and multi-layered, and that comes to illuminate some of the major themes in the construction of Chinese modernity.

Contents:

Paradise lost : the fantastic childhood of a courtesan to be

Lost and found : the socialization of the prostituted body

Family matters : patterns of solidarity and discord in the brothel

Nobody's son : prostitution and the disintegration of the family romance

Taking flight poverty, sickness, and death

Epilogue : back to the future : nostalgia and prostitution.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-282-95122-X

9786612951220

90-474-4408-6

OCLC:

695988830

Publisher Number:

10.1163/ej.9789004179783.i-238 DOI